PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

C Focacci

Publications and source records attributed to C Focacci.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

[Long-term scintigraphic follow-up study of the hip prosthesis].

The authors emphasize the importance of the bone scan in long-term follow-ups of total hip arthroplasty and describe some technical details of the examination. The changes revealed in the bone scan are confirmed by the operative report. Even though the number of patients in the study was relatively small, the fact that the bone scan taken of patients with cementless total hip replacements revealed no pathological changes is considered significant.

Bone Cements

Scintigraphy in osteoid osteoma: problems related to differential diagnosis.

Scintigraphy is currently the most widely used and most reliable diagnostic instrumental test for the diagnosis of osteoid osteoma. Indications for its use are based on two considerations: 1) the need for preoperative confirmation of a suspected diagnosis based on clinical and radiographic findings; 2) the preoperative differential diagnosis from lesions which, either due to site or to atypical features, can mimic osteoid osteoma and are not easily identified. However, the high sensitivity of the test is associated with low specificity. In order to increase the specificity, the authors use angioscintigraphy and illustrate some cases where this method permitted differential diagnosis with other bone lesions that simulate the clinical and radiographic features of osteoid osteoma.

Adolescent

[Usefulness of radioisotopic methods in the study of the salivary glands].

The results achieved by dynamic and static salivary gland scintigraphy in 272 patients over a ten year time (January 1976-December 1985) are reported. On the basis of a semi-quantitative assessment of time/activity curves, dynamic studies prove to be the most suitable method for studying functional disorders (phlogosis, facial paralysis, etc.). Harmlessness, easy execution and functional results are the main advantages of radioisotope techniques. Salivary gland scintigraphy has some limits in the study of space occupying lesions (SOL): however, ultrasounds, CT and sialography represent the methods of choice in this field of salivary gland pathology.

Acute Disease

The particular usefulness of radioisotope methods in some benign bone diseases.

The authors have performed radioisotope examinations in 271 patients with various non-neoplastic bone diseases. According to their opinion, early diagnosis and follow-up of therapeutic results are the main characteristics which allow radioisotopes to play an important and irreplaceable role. They particularly emphasize the usefulness of radioisotope methods in femoral aseptic necrosis and Paget's disease.

Adolescent

[The tolerance of the hip prosthesis evaluted through scintigraphic studies (author's transl)].

The authors assert the usefulness of the scintigraphy in the early diagnosis and/or for the confirmation of the main complications connected with the artroprosthesis of the hip. Such investigation is effective only if it is carried out at a distance of at least six months from the operation and must be completed by clinical, bio-humoral and radiographic tests. This study is based on the observation of 40 cases, of which 20 represent the control group. The isotope used is the Tc99m-pyrophosphate.

Aged

Surgical indications in normotensive hydrocephalus. A retrospective analysis of the relations of some diagnostic findings to the results of surgical treatment.

Twenty two of fifty five patients initially suspected of suffering from normotensive hydrocephalus were surgically treated (CSF ventriculoatrial shunt). The results of surgery were related to the findings of the different diagnostic examinations (pneumoencephalography, isotope cisternography, transfer fron CSF to blood of isotope labelled serum albumin, constant infusion manometric test, long lasting intraventricular pressure recording). 1.Pneumoencephalography, intraventricular pressure recording, and, above all, isotope cisternography provided the most reliable data for diagnosis and surgical prognosis. 2. The combined use of pneumoencephalography and isotope cisternography was sufficient for a correct diagnosis and surgical prognosis in about 50% of the patients examined. 3. When the diagnostic information given by the combined results of the two above examinations was not sufficient, intraventricular pressure recording proved to be the most useful examination to supplement it. 4. The relation of the results of the study of transfer of istope labelled serum albumin from CSF to blood and of the constant infusion manometric test to the surgical outcome was uncertain.

Adult

[Scintigraphic diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum using Tc-99m-pertechnetate].

Meckel's diverticulum (MD) is a well-known cause of lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage, particularly in the pediatric age group. The radionuclide 99mTc-pertechnetate has been found useful in visualizing MD which contain gastric mucosa. This test is predicated of the affinity of the isotope for the parietal cells of the gastric glands. In an attempt to evaluate the sensibility and specificity of pertechnetate, the clinical data and scintigrams of 27 patients with suspected MD were reviewed. The scintigram correctly identified MD before operation in 6 of 7 patients. The false negative study occurred in a MD without gastric mucosa.

Adolescent